inspired meals created with ingredients on hand (most of the time)

Heat on Heat

Supposedly eating spicy foods in hot weather cools you off. Maybe it’s something about the spicy foods making you sweat? Maybe it’s just an urban legend.

But in honor of the heat wave I have been making spicy foods all week.

Wednesday night was “tostada” night. For anybody who might be wondering what a tostada is…. it is an open-faced taco on a crispy corn tortilla. I am sure there are some traditional fillings/toppings you can use; but in true “cabinet stew style” I just used what I had around the house.

A few hot Italian sausages broken out of their casings provided the spicy meat. A couple leftover ears of boiled corn-on-the-cob shaved off the cob added a nice southwest touch. One diced green bell pepper added a cool crunch. Onion of course because everything starts with sautéed onion. To up the heat factor, a few shakes of your favorite hot sauce. I toasted my corn tortillas in a dry skillet but if you wanted to fry them – that would of course be heavenly because everything is better fried.

To make things more substantial I made my own Spanish rice. It was easy. I cooked some brown rice, added a can of crushed tomatoes, some Adobo seasoning and cumin powder. Voila! Spanish rice. (This is a great way to sneak healthy brown rice into your husband as he can’t tell because of the tomatoes coating everything!)

Believe me it was hot in the kitchen but at least shady! We only have a/c in the bedroom. I figure I sweated off a few calories just making this, never mind the spice! Definitely adapt it for the outdoor grill!